FiiO E7 - Amplifier Performance

Summary

Our Score:

10

The amplifier in the E7 does a great job of improving the output of just about any player you care to plug into it. We fed an iPod touch through the E7 and were immediately impressed with how much fuller the output sounded and how much larger the soundstage appeared. Many tracks were given an extra touch of nuance, with quieter, subtle background detail brought forward with improved presence.

Even better results were had using a line-level output from the iPod's dock connector, so that only the amp in the E7 was used, which removed a faint hiss previously present and cleaned up the high end a little. Bypassing our iPod's amplifier also left the audio feeling much more natural in its presentation.

The E7 - EQ left untouched at least - doesn't give quite the same warmth as the E5 headphone amp, but it definitely delivers more richness of tone and adds a depth to the soundstage that the E5 can't manage. And the EQ setting works well to improve the warmth of the E7's output should you want to do so.

It's trite and it's cliché to say it, but you really won't want to go back to using the vanilla output of your media player once you've used the FiiO E7 for any length of time. With the caveat that you need to have good enough quality headphones to bring out the improvements provided, it really is a brilliant upgrade in sound quality.

There shouldn't be any worries about the quality of the DAC in the FiiO E7. The Wolfson WM8740 chip is the same as found in the iBasso D2 Boa headphone DAC/amp costing some £100 more than the FiiO E7, and it works just as well in the E7. Listening to a number of tracks first through an iPod and then through the E7 hooked up to our PC the difference is profound.

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Christian

August 28, 2010, 5:01 pm

I'm never entirely sure how these can be practically used -

Could I for instance plug this into my computer and then plug my current sound setup into it, using it as a sort of preamp to clean up the signal, and get a dramatically better sound for films and music played through my normal speakers?

Zeus

August 28, 2010, 6:09 pm

I have the FiiO E5 and I love it, mainly used for when I'm listening to music on a plane and I find the device doesn't quite get the volume high enough. Was actually using it last night/this morning on a flight from San Diego and funny enough I was thinking if there was an updated model. Freaky.

CSMR

August 28, 2010, 10:18 pm

"While the amplifier may have done a good job of rounding out subtle tones, the E7's DAC goes further to bring out detail previously rendered inaudible by both our iPod and PC's own decoding circuitry."

Again, there's some basic knowledge needed before doing audio reviews like this. Subjectivity is a huge problem in audio evaluations, that's why you need controlled evaluations to have any reliability. Just like in medicine. Unless the differences are enormous (e.g. typical mobile phone compared to typical desktop speaker compared to typical micro system compared to high-end audio system) any purely subjective judgments have very little value to a well-informed reader. And to an uninformed reader, it's the blind leading the blind.

DACs

You should know that DACs are extremely unimportant compared to other factors in determining audio fidelity. This is a proven fact:

So even old 16/44 equipment, and even 16/44 ADCs which are worse, do not make an audible difference to a group of audiophiles. And of course modern DACs are at least 24/96 and exceed the theoretical boundaries of 16/44 by a large margin.

Amps:

These can be important but what is important are basically two things: 1. do they have a completely inaudible noise floor. 2. Do they have vanishingly low output impedance (significant output impedance can cause non-flat frequency response when given a real load).

This has been done on a lot of sound cards and amplifiers and provides a useful comparison, especially when the amplifiers have an actual headphone load.

Again, I know very little about this sound card. For people who don't need speakers and have headphones with 3.5mm connections it may be a good choice and is certainly cheap compared to low-end semi-pro sound cards, albeit much more limited.

Hamish Campbell

August 29, 2010, 1:18 am

Nice. I have a penguin amp, which I love (classic case of not wanting to listen to player without it). The styling and finish of this is awesome though. Penguin amp guy is no longer selling the cmoy player anymore, now only the Arrow amp for over 200 euros.

PoisonJam

August 30, 2010, 4:35 pm

I have Creative T20s (which I occasionally use Grado SR80s with) running off on-board audio. I'm thinking of upgrading my speakers to a better 2.0 set. Would this DAC connected by USB effectively replace my on-board sound i.e. be a soundcard upgrade?

Chris

August 31, 2010, 8:43 pm

@PoisonJam: As mentioned in the review, this device doesn't have a line level output for amplified speakers, so perhaps you'd be better off just getting a better sound card, an X-Fi for example. Not ideal, but an improvement. This thing is really designed for headphone listening.

Alternatively, if you're really serious you could splash out on a pair of these.

These have an internal DAC and connect via USB. No sound card required, so your lousy onboard sound becomes immaterial.

PoisonJam

September 1, 2010, 3:00 am

I'm not sure I get the difference when my headphones and my speakers universally plug into my 3.5mm output on my PC...? Surely a 3.5mm to phono adapter is all that's needed?

I have been lusting after the MM1s for a while but I'm not sure I'm at my PC enough to justify the cost and I have a decent separates system.

Chris

September 1, 2010, 1:16 pm

@PoisonJam: A sound card is designed to either drive headphones directly or to work with external amplifiers, such as amplified PC speakers. This device is designed to drive headphones only. If you use it as you suggest it will work, but I wouldn't like to bet on whether it would be an improvement.

tiep

September 3, 2010, 9:23 pm

So, how much background hiss is there with a pair of sensitive IEMs like your favourite Shure SE530s? It is tough to find a headphone amp that does not hiss with very sensitive/low impedance phones...

DavidSpiteri

October 17, 2010, 4:34 pm

I have been using the E5 with the Cowon S9 for about 5 months and the sound is excellent. Recently I bought the Monster Pro Copper headphones and I am hearing a new sound dimension never heard before. I will be switching to E7 very shortly as I think that the sound reproduction this amplifier improves the sound.

DavidSpiteri

January 2, 2011, 7:33 pm

I received the E7 about two months ago. I compared it with the E5 and the E7 was more open on the low frequency side. The mid range and the High side improved. I recommand the E7 since it is capable of delivering very low frequency sound like a sub-woofer.

deafasapost

November 4, 2011, 8:46 pm

I have been using an E7 between my Macbook Pro and my AKG 72 headphones for a couple of months now and I really can not hear any difference when compared to plugging my phones directly into the Mac. I suspect this is because the Mac has a decent audio out already.

Marcus

July 25, 2013, 3:50 am

Do not buy this.

Search for "Fiio e5 stopped working" and you will see the fatal flaw with this product. It is fantastic, but when it stops working, there is no support, no replacement and no repair.

If you want great sound in the short term and want it on a budget then this product is great. If you want great sound that will last then look somewhere else. This technology sounds great, but is clearly designed to last no longer than the warranty. Thanks, China.

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